Connecting rod assembly



March 3', 1959 F. c. DULIN 2,876,050

' CONNECTING ROD ASSEMBLY Original Filed Nov. 9, 1953 United StatesPatent 6 2,876,050 CONNECTING-ROD ASSEMBLY Francis C. Dulin, Columbus,-hio,-assignor to Thompson Original application November 9,

391,041. Divided and this application August2'3 Serial No. 605,739

8 Claims. (Cl. .308-74) This invention relates generally to a connectingrod assembly. More specifically, the invention relates to areconditioned connecting rodassembly in'which'a worn or damaged bearing.has been removedtfromthe bearing receiving recess or socket. The recess-is then refinished so the damaged recess or socket is' again ofaprecise diameter for receiving a standard replacement hearing.

The reconditioned connecting rod assembly includes superimposed oppositemembers cooperating between them to define a bearing bore or recess.Each of the members has on opposite sides of the bore ano'rmallyinclinedsurface for mating abutting relationwith a similar surface on theopposed member. Alsodisposedon opposite sides of the bore are tighteningelements each comprising a bolt-like element extending generally atright angles to and through the inclined surfaces for drawing the matingnormally inclined surfaces toward each into flush contact completelyabout the shank of the bolt-like element and to eliminate substantiallyany gap between said surfaces around said bolt-like element whereby'thebore is reduced indiameter. The'flush contact between the oppositemembers affords a firm backing between the members to resist distortionand relative movement of the members with respect to the bolt-likeelements. The reconditioned assembly and particularly the bearingrec'ess, is adapted to receive a new standard bearing therein. Torecondition the bearing-receiving recess or socket in a connecting rodafter the worn or damaged bearing is removed, it is necessary todecrease the diameter of the recess or socket after thebearing isremoved so that it can be rebored and reground to a precise size toreceive a bearing of standard size. At the present time, it is customaryto separate the cap" and body sections of a connecting rod, removethewornbearing halves from the connecting rod body and cap, remove somematerial from the flat parting surfaces of the cap and body to reducethe dimension of the recess in adirection axially of the rod, bolt thecap on the body, and then reduce the dimension of the recess at rightangles to the first direction by pressure on the cooperating cap andbody s end which will distort these members transversely; This willprovide stock at the wall of the recess or socket which can be removedto permit reborin'g andregrinding to a proper size to receive thestandard replacement bearing. Obviously, distorting the cap and body, bypressure is damaging to these members and to the bolts which connectthem, lacks accuracy, and sometimes after removal'of pressure, thesemembers spring back to their original size which results in insufficientstock for reboring and regrinding.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedreconditioned connecting rod assembly.

Still another object of this invention. is to provide a new and improvedbearingassembly having the components reconditioned after one or more ofthe components have become worn or damaged to" the end of restoring theusefulness of the assembly.

A further object of this invention is to" provide an "ice 2. economical,highly eflicient and effective reconditioned connecting rod assembly.

A feature of this invention relates to the provision of inclined or.angled partingsurfaces disposed on' opposite sides of. the bearing.recess which surfaces, when drawn together, reducexthe diameter of therecess to receive a standard replacement bearing.

Another feature of this invention relates toaa newand improvedconnecting rod assembly capable of providing additional stock inthetwall of the bearing-receivingirecess so the stock may be: removed toreceivea standard replacement bearing.

Other objects and features of the present invention will more fullybecome apparent in view of'the following detailed description taken inconjunction -with the accompanying single sheet ofdrawings illustratingtherein a single embodiment: and" in which:

Figure l is'anenlarged fragmentary diagrammatic view illustratingseveral of the components of my connecting rod assembly in overlyingrelation to one another;-

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevationof my connection rodassembly with the components in tentative or preliminary assembly withone another;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sideelevation of the connecting rodassembly shown in Figure 2 only with the parting surfaces mated with oneanother to reduce the bearing recess bore prior toreboring;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of my connecting rodassembly after the bearing recess has been rebored and with areplacement bearing disposed therein; and

Fig. 5 isa side elevation of my recoiiditionedco'rinecting rod assembly.

As shown on the drawings:

With reference to the drawings, 1 have illustrated in Figure 5 a:connecting rod" assembly 10 including a connecting rod forging ll and acap 12 held in cooperative relationship in the usual manner by bolts 13.These cooperating members provide the usual bearing-receiving circularrecess 14- which receives a bearing 15'. The bearing 15 is hereillustrated as a split'ring-t'ype bearing which is made in two halves,15a and 15b,- one of which snaps into'the member 11 and the other ofwhich snaps into the member 12. (-Figure' 4). The member 11 has partingsurfaces 16 and 17 and the'member12has the parting surfaces 16a and 17a.When bolted together the surfaces 16a and 17aare adapted to' abut and bein fiat backed up contact with the respective surfaces 16 and 17. Inthis instance, the bearing 15' constitutes a replacement bearing whichhas been installed in the connecting rod assembly 10' including theforging 1'1 and the cap 12 after'the assembly has'been reconditioned.

To replace the worn bearing 15 with" a new bearing, the bolts 13 areremoved and the worn bearing halves are withdrawn from the respectivecooperating members 11 and 12. Then the parting surfaces 16 and 16a and17 and 17a are prepared in a special manner according to my invention.

As shown in Figures 1' and 2, the parting surfaces 16a and 17a of thecap 12 are ground at an angle so that each surface extends outwardly andupwardly. As further shown in Figures 1 and 2, the parting surfaces 16and 17 of the body forging 11 are ground at an angle so that eachsurface extends downwardly and outwardly. The angles of the surfaces 16aand 17a are the same as the angles of the surfaces 16 and 17 but extendin a reverse direction. The result is that when the cap 12 is positionedon the forging 11, as shown in Figure 1', the surfaces 16 and 16a are inoutwardly diverging relationship and the surfaces 17 and 17a are insimilar diverging relationship. 1

The manner in which thesurfaces are gro'undand their relationship isindicated in Figure l. The diameter line a indicates the original planev along which the parting surfaces 16 and 16a and 17 and 17a contactwith each other. The line b indicates the disposition of the angularsurfaces 16a and 17 and the line indicates the disposition ofthesurfaces 16 and 17a. It will be noted that a thickness of material,indicated by the letter d, is removed from'each parting surface at itsinner edge and the thickness of material removed gradually increasesoutwardly to the thickness indicated by the letter e at the outer edgeof each surface.

The members 11 and 12, with their parting surfaces ground as indicated,are then reassembled as shown in Figure 2.. The result will be that thesurfaces 16 and 16a will be in diverging relationship and the surfaces17 and 17a will be in diverging relationship but will contact at theirinner edges at the points indicated by the letters 3. At this time, the,vertical dimension of the recess .14, indicated by the arrow g, will beless than the original vertical dimension of the recess being smaller bytwice the amount of the material d removed from each parting surface atits inner edge. The angle of each parting surface is selected so thatthe spacing of the surfaces 16 and 16a and '17 and 1711 at their outeredges where they diverge to the greatest extent, indicated by the letterh, is approximately twice that of the thickness of material d removedfrom each surface at its inner edge. Thus, when the bolts 13 aretightened to pull the cap 12 down onto member 11, the surfaces 16 and16a and the surfaces 17 and 17a will pivot together about the points f.This will move the sides of the recess 14 inwardly so that thehorizontal dimension of the recess 14, at right angles to the dimensiong, and indicated by the arrow i, will correspond to the verticaldimension g. As

shown by a comparison of the wall of the recess 14 in Figure 6 with thecurved line i, which indicates the original position of the wall of therecess, the recess wall has been moved inwardly by a thicknesscorresponding to twice the thickness d or corresponding to the dimensionh. 7

After the cap member 12 and forging 11 are assembled and bolted togetheras indicated in Figure 3, the recess 14 may then be rebored and regroundto a precise size to receive a standard bearing. Then, as indicated inFigure 4, the new bearing 15 may be positioned therein.

It will be understood that the angles of the parting surfaces areexaggerated in the drawings for the purpose of illustration. The bolts13 of the reconditioned connecting rod will be flexed slightly when thecap 12 is clamped on member 11 but not enough to have any undesirableeffect.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 391,041 filedNovember 9, 1953.

Iclaim as my invention:

1'. In a bearing assembly including a cap and a body in opposed relationwith said cap and body cooperable together, the improvements of abearing receiving recess defined between the cap and body which recesshas horizontal and vertical diameters at variance with one another,means for reducing the overall diameter of the recess including thehorizontal and the vertical diameter and for generally conforming thehorizontal and vertical diameters including spaced sets of partingsurfaces with the parting surfaces in each set diverging away from oneanother in a radially outwardly direction, each of said sets of partingsurfaces having a radially movable fulcrum where said parting surfacesabut when said cap and body are placed in preliminary contact with oneanother, and said means including a second means cooperable with saidfulcrums and which pivots the diverging parting surfaces about saidfulcrums moving the fulcrums radiallvtoward one anothcrwhile at thesametime mating the parting surfaces along their length to reducev theoverall diameter of said recess including the horizontal and verticaldiameters and-to generally conform the horizontal and verticaldiameters.

2. In a bearing assembly including superimposed members in opposedrelation with said members cooperable together, the improvements of abearing receiving recess defined by and positioned between the memberswhich recess has horizontal and vertical. diameters at variance with oneanother, the improvement of means for reducing the overall diameter ofthe recess and for generally conforming the horizontal and verticaldiameters including spaced sets of parting surfaces with the partingsurfaces in each set diverging away from one another in a radiallyoutwardly direction, and said means including a second means cooperablewith said parting surfaces in each set and which draws the divergingparting surfaces in each set into abutting contact with one another toreduce the overall diameter of said recess and to generally conform thehorizontal and vertical diameters.

3. In a bearing assembly including superimposed members with saidmembers cooperable together and defining therebetween a bearingreceiving recess, the improvement of means for reducing the diameter ofthe recess including spaced sets of parting surfaces on said memberswith the parting surfaces in each set diverging away from one another ina radially outwardly direction, each of said sets of parting surfaceshaving a fulcrum where said parting surfaces abut when said members areplaced in preliminary contact with one another, and said means includinga second means cooperable with said fulcrums and which pivots said setsof parting surfaces about their associated fulcrums and draws thediverging parting surfaces in each set into abutting contact with oneanother to reduce the diameter of said recess.

4. A connecting rod assembly, said assembly including superimposed upperand lower members each having notched portions cooperable together todefine a central bearing receiving recess, adjustable tightening meanson said assembly to hold said members in assembly, each of said membershaving a parting surface on opposite sides of said recess, each of saidsurfaces including an inner surface fulcrum portion with the innersurface portions on each side of the recess in abutting contact with oneanother in preliminary assembly, said surfaces on each side of therecess eachdiverging radially outwardly with respect to one another fromtheir respective abutting surface fulcrum portions in preliminaryassembly, said divergent surfaces being pivoted on their fulcrumportions and drawn into abutting relation to one another upon tighteningof said adjustable tightening means to decrease the diameter of saidcentral bearing receiving recess.

5. A connecting rod assembly, said assembly including superimposed upperand lower members each having notched portions cooperably together todefine a central bearing receiving recess, adjustable tightening meanson said assembly to hold said members in assembly, each of said membershaving a resilient leg portion and a parting surface on opposite sidesof said recess in face to face relation, each of said surfaces includingan inner surface fulcrum portion in abutting contact with another andopposed inner surface fulcrum portion in preliminary assembly, saidsurfaces on each side of the recess each diverging outwardly withrespect to one another from their respective abutting surface fulcrumportions in preliminary assembly, said resilient leg portions anddivergent surfaces being pivoted on their fulcrum portions. and drawninto abutting relation to one another upon tightening of said adjustabletightening means to decrease the diameter of said central bearingreceiving recess, and a removable bearing in said recess.

'6. In a clamp structure including a cap and a body in opposed relationwith said capand body cooperable together, the improvements of a recessdefined betweenthe cap and body which recess has horizontal and verticaldiameters at variance with one another, means for reducing the overalldiameter of the recess including the horizontal and the verticaldiameter and for generally conforming the horizontal and verticaldiameters including spaced sets of parting surfaces with the partingsurfaces in each set diverging away from one another in a radiallyoutwardly direction, each of said sets of parting surfaces having aradially movable fulcrum where said parting surfaces abut when said capand body are placed in preliminary contact with one another, and saidmeans including a second means cooperable with said fulcrums and whichpivots the diverging parting surfaces about said .fulcrums moving thefulcrums radially toward one another while at the same time mating theparting surfaces along their length to reduce the overall diameter ofsaid recess including the horizontal and vertical diameters and togenerally conform the horizontal and vertical diameters.

7. In a clamp structure including superimposed members in opposedrelation with said members cooperable together, the improvements of arecess defined by and positioned between the members which recess hashorizontal and vertical diameters at variance with one another, theimprovement of means for reducing the overall diameter of the recess andfor generally conforming the horizontal and vertical diameters includingspaced sets of parting surfaces with the parting surfaces in each setdiverging away from one another in a radially outwardly direction, andsaid means including a second means cooperable with said partingsurfaces in each set and surfaces in each set diverging away from oneanother in a radially outwardly direction, each of said sets of partingsurfaces having a fulcrum where said parting surfaces abut when saidmembers are placed in preliminary contact with one another, and saidmeans including a second means cooperable with said fulcrums and whichpivots said sets of parting surfaces about their associated fulcrums anddraws the diverging parting surfaces in each set into abutting contactwith one anotherto reduce the diameter of said recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS948,080 Stockham Feb. 1, 1910 2,082,944 Evans June 8, 1937 FOREIGNPATENTS 585,534 Great Britain Feb. 10, 1947 834,624 Germany Mar. 20,1952

